Hall ends “tough 33 days” by upsetting Nova

Fuquan Edwin hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left after a Tom Maayan steal to lift Seton Hall to a 66-65 upset of Villanova. The Hall (14-15, 3-13) stopped a nine-game losing streak and damaged the NCAA Tourney resume of Villanova (18-11, 9-7). You can check out my game story here, or just go straight to the thoughts and quotes:

The program needed this night, from Kevin Willard down to the last reserve. It didn’t happen by accident. The Hall played hard and smart, exploiting Villanova’s weakness in covering the 3-point line and contesting seemingly every shot on the other end. After nine straight losses dating back 33 days—the Hall’s longest skid since 1984-85—it was a shot in the arm. The postgame locker room was a happy place and deservedly so.

Aaron Cosby, take a bow. The sophomore guard logged 39 minutes and produced 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting, six assists and five rebounds. Down the stretch he handled virtually solo against Villanova’s hellacious trap. He did have six turnovers, but he never melted down and that’s an accomplishment considering the lack of help. An impressive night’s work.

Kevin Willard pushed all the right buttons. Starting Kyle Smyth (12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, all from 3-point range) gave the Pirates the spark they needed in the first half. Nova clearly did not expect much from him and was burned accordingly. Subbing Maayan offense-for-defense down the stretch paid huge dividends on the steal and subsequent stop. Certainly shooting 13-of-21 from 3-point range cures a lot of ills.

This hurt Villanova bad. The general consensus is the Cats need 10 Big East wins to avoid sweating out Selection Sunday. That means they must now beat either Pitt on the road or Georgetown at home. Nova seemed uptight from the get-go and perhaps that flowed from Jay Wright, who was as worked up as we’ve ever seen him on the sideline. The Cats got zero bench points and shot a remarkable 25-of-27 from the free-throw line. This is the eighth time they’ve allowed 10-plus threes in a game this season. They had beaten Seton Hall 10 straight times dating back to 2004.

Will this be a springboard to a respectable finish for SHU, or just a temporary oasis? The Pirates most likely will be the No. 12 seed in the Big East Tournament, but with a closing stretch against Providence, Rutgers and USF or DePaul, there’s a chance to build a little momentum and good will heading into the offseason.

KEVIN WILLARD

“It’s been 33 days. It’s been 33 tough days. There’s been smiles, but they’re not the smiles I saw back there (in the locker room), which is really nice.”

On the game-winning sequence: “It was a real good job by Tommy to make the pass after the steal. The last four minutes he did a great job. He really bothered Ryan (Arcidiacono), made him make some tough shots . . . He is our best on-ball defender.”

On Aaron Cosby’s effort: “What I’m real proud of, AC, when he did turn the ball over, he didn’t let it affect his game at all. Every time he turned it over, I thought he bounced back with a huge play for us. That’s what I’m really proud of. Sometimes he gets a little down on himself when he makes a mistake. (Tonight) he looked over and said, ‘My bad,’ and made something good happen. He played terrific.”

On Eugene Teague and why they took so many threes: “His ankle, he tweaked it in the Louisville game. His ankle is pretty swollen. When we don’t have him to get the ball into, it’s difficult. But I think we did a good job of driving and kicking.”

On Kyle Smyth: “This was the best game I’ve ever seen him play. His charges, his hustle, his determination to get a win was really enthusiastic.”

“These guys have been resilient all year. The fact that they’re still fighting the way they are shows a lot about their character and a lot about this team. Sometimes wins and losses don’t show it, but this team has a lot of character.”

On Brian Oliver: “Brian and I had a great talk the other day. I understood his message, he understood mine. He’s been terrific since then.”

AARON COSBY:

On playing 39 minutes vs. Nova’s pressure: “I got tired toward the end of the second half, I started cramping…I was just like, ‘Not again. We’ve got to find a way to get a win.’ . . . “It was really exhausting, especially since I had to deal with Louisville’s pressure 48 hours ago.”

“It felt like a hundred pounds off our backs. It felt like a blessing, that we’ve had such a tough year but we could stick together and get a win like this.”

On the postgame mood: “Everybody was jumping up and down. It was like nothing before today mattered once we got into the locker room.”

On what he would like to say about the transfer speculation: “None of it has come from me. It’s all speculation, and people assuming things. My whole focus is winning games and sticking with my teammates. None of that came from my mouth.”

FUQUAN EDWIN:

On the final sequence: “Coach wanted a trap without fouling. Tommy managed to do that. He made a great steal and not only a steal, but as he was falling down he could have walked. I didn’t want to go for two. My shot was feeling good all game. When I saw I had an opportunity like that I took advantage of it.”

“It feels good because it’s been a rough year, it’s been a down year for us. It feels good to get a win, especially like that.”

TOM MAAYAN:

On the final sequence: “Coach said just trap the first pass. That’s what we did. It was just good instinct that we had, me and Fu. I was happy I came up with the play and Fu hit a big shot to win the game.”

“As soon as I caught the ball I saw Fu in the corner and I said, ‘That’s the best we can get out of it.’ He’s a great shooter and I definitely wanted him to take the last shot on our team.”

JAY WRIGHT

“We came out ready to play and everyone knows who has covered us that we’ve struggled to cover the 3-point line all year. Seton Hall’s guards dominated the game. And we just couldn’t keep them in front of us.”

About Jerry Carino

Jerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.

6 Responses to Hall ends “tough 33 days” by upsetting Nova

It’s nice to see Willard pat his players on the back and talk about them being “resilient” and “still fighting.” I think we’ll see this team fight and scrap for 40 minutes each game the rest of the way, Jerry.
And for the most part, they’ve done that all year. The difference between losing 9 in a row and winning last night was their ability to knock down shots. Surprising when you consider they just played 2 games in 3 days and had to fly back from Louisville. 13 of 21 from 3-point range. Everyone shot 50% or better from 3: Fu (3-6), Smyth (4-7), Cosby (3-4) and Oliver (3-4).
They’ve had open looks before in games against St. John’s, Pittsburgh and even Cincinnati, but the shots didn’t fall. Last night they fell for the Pirates while ‘Nova struggled mightily from 3 (4-18). Credit Seton Hall’s defense for some of that.
Let’s face it. No matter who the Pirates play down the stretch it’s going to be a grind, but if the shots fall like they did last night, there might be a few more smiles in their post-game locker room.

Jerry, thanks for parachuting in and covering the Hall : ) Happy for Willard and the team. Great to get that monkey off our backs (9 losses in a row and 13 out of 14!) and see their hard work and effort finally result in a win. Our Pirates have nothing to lose so let’s continue to play loose and have fun @ Prov, vs RU, and in the BE Tourney. Go Pirates!

Can’t say enough about Karlis’ defensive prowess. The kid looks like he drank the extra, extra caffeinated Red Bull before games. You can see his teammates feed off his infectious energy. Worth noting that it appears he injured his left hand – more than a superficial injury, perhaps. He was holding it / shaking it most of the game and clearly stayed away from his left. Hope it’s nothing serious.

Aaron Cosby didn’t exactly come out with “I’m not transferring, and I love it here” which is what fans wanted to hear. While he wasn’t cryptic, he wasn’t not cryptic in his retort either.

Finally, I liked seeing Teague give Tommy Maayan a bit of support after one of his half-court-bomb-pass-turnovers (went out of bounds). The big fella seems to be a steady guy, emotionally.

Mother Seton,
Thanks for mentioning Karlis…he plays so hard, on several occasions we were worried he would slam into our baseline media table (I don’t care if I get knocked over, but please not the laptop). Earlier this season, an opposing coach told me unsolicited how while breaking down SHU film he was really impressed with Karlis’ effort.

Also, good observation on Teague. Whatever issues he had at Southern Illinois seems to be in the past.

Cosby said the right things, considering he probably hasn’t made a decision yet.

There were lots of things to be happy about, not the least of which was Nova left us for dead twice in the final minute and we didn’t roll over either time.

We got the full gamut of Maayan. Mind blowing turnovers, great on-ball D, heads up flop, then gets up and smiles, big time steal and pass at the end. I will say this, the big moments seem to find this kid.

Lastly, a quick shout out to Geramipoor. Our third string center held his own in a critical late five minute stretch. Good for him. We can’t say we don’t have depth at the Center position.

Quick question – Why is Politi calling out Aaron Cosby? Maybe the kid is leaving, maybe he isn’t (and for the record, I hope and pray he stays) but that was unnecessary. Killing KW is not a problem, he’s a big boy. But did AC have to be part of the collateral damage?

kk

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Since its launch in 2006, Hoops Haven has become a staple of the New Jersey basketball community. This is the place to find breaking news, analysis and links about college and high school basketball in the Garden State.

About the Author

Jerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.Email Jerry.